Streaming media content generally refers to media content that is constantly received by and presented to an end-user while being provided by a content delivery network. Content delivery networks generally refer to large distributed system of servers deployed in multiple data centers across the internet to support media streaming of interactive and non-interactive media content. Interactive content includes video games that are executed on a game server and sent to a game platform (e.g., set top boxes, handheld devices, computing devices embedded in televisions, video game console). Non-interactive content includes video (e.g., movies and television shows) and audio (e.g., music). In practice, the content delivery network provider may get paid by content providers, such as media companies, for delivering their interactive and non-interactive media content to end users. The architecture and techniques that support streaming content may function differently for interactive and non-interactive media content. Non-interactive media content is not unique to a particular user, as such, media content may be streamed and hosted in data center servers (e.g., edge servers) such that the media content does not have to be directly sent from the content provider's network when requested by end users. For example, when a user makes a request for non-interactive content, the non-interactive content may exist on multiple edge servers local to the user and the user request is directed to an optimized server that has the content locally. As such, non-interactive content may have improved quality of service and less infrastructure costs.
In contrast, because of the individualized nature of interactive media content, content providers with interactive media content cannot take advantage of the edge servers as do content providers with non-interactive media. For example, a central gaming server has to render and execute game play and then receive interactive feedback from the user in a game streaming session unique to the user. As such, game streaming has to account for infrastructure costs, bandwidth requirements, and latency associated with providing streaming games. Conventional game design and game streaming methods and systems fail to provide ways to address the limitations of streaming interactive content.